The construction at WMS is something that can’t be ignored, especially because the constant noises can be disturbing to students, teachers, and faculty. The construction began in late May of 2018, but it didn’t have an effect on residents of the school until the 2018-2019 school year began.

Sixth grader, Raymond Mcsorley, had “no idea” that WMS was going under construction. During the first week of school, it was “confusing” for Mcsorley, especially because he was an incoming sixth grader. Mcsorley commented, “The hardest part about the construction going on is definitely not having gym. I thought that since we were in middle school, we’d have a huge gym, but it turns out we don’t have one due to the construction.”

Saadia Telemaque, a sixth grader attending WMS, says that construction didn’t make walking in school “difficult”, and she added on that after a week, things got “easy”. Telemaque said, “I think the hardest part would be losing focus. The construction makes me not want to pay attention. But, I like how in gym we have the opportunity to do our homework and play games.”

Seventh grader, Anthony Reyes, believes that the construction is moving “faster” than he thought. Due to the construction, there is “limited space” in the hallways, and there’s not much to do in gym. Reyes stated, “I think assigned stairwells are the hardest part about adjusting.  Sometimes, there are random people at the wrong stairwells. Also, there are different classroom setups.”

Rupita Rafat, a seventh grader at WMS, says the “crowded hallways” and “having no gym” have affected her school life, but in the end it will be “worth it”. Rafat commented, “I thought it would take a really long time to build, but in the end, I think it will look really nice.” Rafat says that gym was the “hardest adjustment” because it gets “boring”.

Eighth grader, Jackie Morel says this construction affected her school life since there’s no more gym, and most of the classes are in different areas of the school. Morel also commented that construction “wasn’t as hard as [she] imagined”. Morel stated, “Switching classes and the assigned stairwells are the hardest part about adjusting. The assigned stairwells are unnecessary.”

Joe Belmont, an eighth grader attending WMS, said the “really loud” noises disturb him in class, and that it’s a “bad learning environment”. Belmont stated, “I only thought it would be the gym section of our school to be closed off. Now, we also have the assigned stairwells. I feel like the construction workers should understand that we’re students and we need to learn, and the noise is just really distracting.” Belmont believes that the hardest part about it all is “adjusting to the loud noises”.

Mrs. Lukachyk, gym and health teacher, stated, “We don’t have a gym, and it makes me feel bad for the students, and us teachers.” Lukachyk says that it gets “boring” having to do the same thing every day. Lukachyk hopes to see a “brand new gym”, and parts of the school looking more “modern”.

Mr. Miller, a WMS civics teacher, said that the only thing that “disturbed” him was the noise. In the future, he hopes to see the school “safer” in general, and the school looking more “modern”.

Mr. Murphy, a language arts teacher at WMS, says that the only difficult thing about the construction is the “constant” drilling noise, and losing “train of thought”. Murphy commented,  “The drilling is like an alarm clock that keeps going off and won’t stop.” The thing he hopes they renovate is the floors and repaint the walls, but he also hopes for a more “modern” look to the school.

Vice principal, Mr. Harris, said, “It gets difficult having to run the school, and being aware of the construction. As soon as you come into the building, you have to make sure the building is in stable condition. If there are certain areas that are being blocked off, the teachers need to know. Every day is a new day in the building, there’s always something different.”

According to Harris, there will be no more half-days, and he is “predicting” to see the new building being built. There should be less noise, less banging, and less scraping in the near future. WMS will also be adding some elevators, three new science classes, seven new classrooms, brand new vice principal and principal offices, a new teacher lounge, and an official AV studio. Harris is “looking forward” to seeing both buildings completely done.

Dr. Crowe, principal of WMS, believes that it’s not as “difficult” to run the school, but it “definitely is different”. Crowe stated, “We have this construction and still have to run the school.” The construction is moving “smoothly” other than the noise. Crowe agrees that there shouldn’t be any schedule changes in the near future. According to Crowe, the predicted completion date is September 2019 and Harris agrees.

WMS is certainly undergoing some changes with the construction. The new building will take some time, but will be worth it in the end.